George Martin has been under a lot of pressure lately.
Forced to make a living, he had to stop writing novels and was hired by ABC to create the TV series "The Doors." The pilot episode of this series was filmed, but now there is news that it may be aborted again.
This is not the first time he has experienced this kind of thing. He had encountered similar situations in "The Twilight Zone" and "Two-Face Max" back then.
Although the salary in Hollywood is pretty good, most of the programs he participated in were not approved.
As a writer, of course he hopes that his works can be seen by the public, but his work in recent years has made him increasingly disappointed.
He thought of Jimmy James again. He had called Jimmy several times before to ask about the work, but he never received a positive reply.
Jimmy didn't even contact him during this time.
He was almost losing confidence in Jimmy.
He even began to wonder whether signing Jimmy was the right decision. Jimmy was able to convince him at that time because Jimmy told him that he would support him in writing that long fantasy novel.
But now after signing the contract, things have completely changed.
Jimmy is indeed an out-and-out businessman!
After scolding ABC and Jimmy in his heart, George felt a little more comfortable and started working again.
But not long after he touched the computer, a colleague at the door told him that someone was looking for him.
He put down his work and walked outside the office, and found that the person who came to see him was Jimmy, whom he had just scolded bloody in his heart.
Now that he saw him in person, George felt a little embarrassed.
"Jimmy, why are you here?" George scratched his head and asked.
Jimmy walked over with a smile and hugged George's broad shoulders: "I have something to talk to you about."
"What's going on? Can't we talk over the phone? I called you several times before, but you said you didn't have time. Why are you here now?"
"Because it's a very important matter." Jimmy patted his briefcase, "I brought a contract with me. Let's find a quiet place to take a look."
"But during my working hours..."
"Hey, what are the working hours? It's not like I've never been a screenwriter at ABC."
"I'd better talk to the supervisor." George hesitated.
"Then go quickly."
George nodded and went to the director's office.
When he arrived at the office, he said he wanted to take leave, but was scolded by his supervisor. Because "The Door" could not be released, the supervisor was angry. Now that George had hit the gun, the supervisor took out all his anger on him.
.
After a lot of scolding, the supervisor pointed to the door and said: "Get out, anyway, "The Door" can't be released now, and you have nothing to do. You can take leave as long as you want."
George held back his anger, nodded and walked out of the office.
Jimmy saw that he looked worried and didn't know what was going on, so he asked: "What's wrong? I didn't get the leave? Is ABC's screenwriter management so strict now?"
"No." George shook his head, "Let's not mention it. Let's talk about your business first."
The two walked out of the ABC building and found a coffee shop. Jimmy handed the contract to George: "Look, this is the most generous condition we can offer."
George took over the contract suspiciously, and it turned out to be a copyright contract for his new novel.
The contract stated that all copyrights for the new book series totaled US$200,000, and 30% of the commercial profits from derivative copyrights were left to George.
In other words, the profits from the subsequent publication of this book have nothing to do with George. However, if all derivative copyrights such as film and television adaptation rights are sold in the future, 30% of the profits generated will be given to George.
Because the book hasn't come out yet, the contract is very long, and it describes in detail the contents of this series of books, which are all based on the preparatory materials provided by George.
In other words, whenever George writes a book related to this material in the future, it will be in accordance with this contract.
George looked at the contract in his hand and was very excited.
Two hundred thousand dollars is already a lot of money, and that's before the book is written.
More importantly, the two hundred thousand dollars did not buy out all the copyrights, but also left him 30% of the derivative royalties.
From this contract, George saw that Jimmy valued him.
Without any hesitation, he took out his pen and signed his name on the contract.
Jimmy looked at his signature and reminded, "Do you want to find a lawyer to take a look?"
George waved his hand, "No, this contract is more risky for you."
Jimmy nodded, he thought so too.
If George was not a reliable person, he could have faked a book and defrauded him of two hundred thousand dollars, and all he had to lose was the subject matter.
If it were entirely up to Jimmy to decide, he would not draft such a contract at all, because it is not in the interest of their company at all.
However, facing George, Jimmy said good things: "We have no risk at all, because I think you are trustworthy. And we are very optimistic about this subject. I also believe that as long as you write well, the 30% of the derivative royalties will be paid in the future."
It can bring you far more than $200,000 in income."
The reason why he said this was because he wanted to give George some chicken blood and draw a cake at the same time.
George is indeed very fond of this trick: "I will definitely write it well and will not betray your trust. But before that, I still have one thing to do."
"whats the matter?"
"Resign!"
…
After negotiating with George, Jimmy rushed to China with the contract.
He wanted to report the situation to Yu Dong, and by the way, he mentioned the matter of funds. Money has been spent too fast recently, and the three million RMB before was about to be spent.
In order not to affect the next work, he had to persuade Yu Dong to invest some more money.
But it should get better after this period of time.
He just got good news two days ago: Bantam Company has decided to increase the first printing to 100,000 copies.
By then, the manuscript fees for these 100,000 copies will be worth tens of thousands of dollars, which will be enough to meet urgent needs.
But looking at it this way, "Resident Evil" will lose money unless it sells millions of copies.
Of course, it doesn't matter even if you lose money on manuscript fees, there are more ways to make money anyway.
There will be film and television adaptations in the future, and after Yu Dong's popularity increases, Yu Dong's other books will also sell easily.
Jimmy is already talking to Romero about the film and television adaptation, but there is no consensus yet.
Jimmy didn't put all his eggs in one basket. In addition to Romero, he was also contacting other producers.
In addition, Yu Dong also provided him with a new idea last time.
Chapter completed!